The Right Values Help You Handle Failure

Aug 3, 2018

RUSH: Here’s David in Tennessee. David, great to have you on the EIB Network. Hi.

CALLER: Good afternoon, Rush. You talked the other day on your 30th anniversary about being fired seven times. I’ve had that same experience. Not seven times yet, but then again I’m not your age, I’ve been fired four times. And I always, after being terminated from a job, I would have that gut wrenching feeling for all of 30 minutes, jump on the phone, get another job and be back to work. And what I want to teach my children is to fail well. Not to be failures in the term, but to fail well, and learn from that.

In this country where we’re giving trophies for participation, where we’re sitting there and we’re rewarding the least little thing that children do, when we don’t call out the MVP anymore. It’s ridiculous. And yet this country of any country in the world you can fail and fail and fail multiple times and still at the end succeed as long as you have the determination and grit to do it.

That’s what you keep talking about. That’s the example you gave the other day of your 30 years of doing what you’re doing. No one else, after getting fired seven times, would be doing this, apart from the fact that you and I strive for excellence. I don’t mean to sound like I’m being braggadocios or anything, but that’s what I’m constantly pointing my children at. I have three wonderful, beautiful girls. They’re intelligent, wise children, but you know, I want them to fail.

RUSH: You’re talking about values that when I was growing up and when you were growing up and when my parents and grandparents and their parents and grandparents were growing up, we’re talking about values that have been universal. The route to success is comprised of hard work and diligence, and you know the prescription. But societies are constantly changing and traditions are always, I don’t want to say under assault, but they are.

New generations come along and some of them don’t want to accept the traditions and ways of their parents and grandparents. So there’s always flux, there’s always change, but this is why people talk about time honored traditions. That there are basic rules, human rules, that no matter when they’re applied, work. No matter what circumstances you’re in, they work. And I think your sense is that even those time honored, generation after generation after generation, are now being chipped away and may not survive.

And you want them to for your kids, which you can do. As much of a chance you have to be around them — and I would applaud you for it. I don’t recommend everybody get fired seven times. Nothing valorous about it, but it happened and you have to remain dedicated to your desires. That’s all that got me through.

I remained in love with what I wanted to do and I refused to accept that the people firing me were smarter than I was and were right when they told me I wasn’t good enough to do it. If I wasn’t good enough, I had the maturity and knowledge, I would admit it to myself and I never did. It leads to all different kinds of motivation, but stick with it. You’ll eventually prevail. But you’re going to be up against all kinds of societal pressures to the contrary. I wish you luck. I don’t mean to cut short here but time is just going way fast and I’m way long. I’ve got to go.